1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric connector and more particularly, to a card adapter, which uses a partition board to hold multiple sets of terminals for the contact of different electronic cards so that the height of the adapter is minimized to meet light, thin, short and small electronic product characteristics.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of high-tech electronic devices has been developed and has appeared on the market. These electronic devices such as computers, mobile telephones, digital cameras, and etc. provided sophisticated functions to satisfy different demands. Further, electronic chip cards have been intensively used in mobile electronic devices such as mobile telephones, PDAs, etc. for identification recognition and/or data storage. These mobile electronic devices have a card connector or adapter for receiving a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card or memory card.
Following the market trend toward light, thin, short and small electronic device characteristics, a card adapter must be made as smaller as possible and capable of receiving a plurality of electronic cards. FIGS. 9 and 10 show a card adapter according to the prior art. According to this design, the card adapter comprises a base A fixedly mounted in a circuit board (not shown), a sliding cardholder B, which is coupled to the base A and comprises a first accommodating chamber B1 and a second accommodating chamber B2 disposed at different elevations, a set of first terminals A1 mounted in the base A for the contact of the electronic card C that is inserted into the first accommodating chamber B1, a set of second terminals B3 mounted in the sliding cardholder B for the contact of the electronic card C that is inserted into the second accommodating chamber B2. After insertion of the electronic cards C into the first accommodating chamber B1 and the second accommodating chamber B2, the sliding cardholder B is moved relative to the base A to force the electronic card C in the first accommodating chamber B1 into contact with the first terminals A1. The electronic card C that is inserted into the second accommodating chamber B2 is automatically set into contact with the second terminals B3. When moving the sliding cardholder B to force the electronic card C in the first accommodating chamber B1 into contact with the first terminals A1, the second terminals B3 are respectively force into respective connecting terminals A2 that are mounted in the base A and electrically connected to the circuit board that carries the base A.
The aforesaid design of card adapter is still not satisfactory in function because of the following drawbacks:
Because the first terminals A1 and the second terminals B3 are respectively mounted in the base A and the sliding cardholder B, the card adapter must have a certain height to hold these two sets of terminals. Therefore, this design of card adapter does not meet the requirements for light, thin, short and small electronic device characteristics.
According to the aforesaid design, the sliding cardholder B must be moved relative to the base A to force the electronic card C that is inserted into the first accommodating chamber B1 into contact with the first terminals A1. However, the electronic card C that is inserted into the second accommodating chamber B2 is automatically set into contact with the second terminals B3. Therefore, when making the card adapter, the distance between the first terminals A1 and the connecting terminals A2 must be accurately controlled so that the second terminals B3 can be accurately forced into contact with the electronic card C in the first accommodating chamber B1 after the sliding cardholder B has been set into position. This consideration complicates the manufacturing process, resulting in a low yield rate and a high manufacturing cost.
This design of card adapter has no guide means to guide the second terminals B3 into contact with the connecting terminals A2 when moving the sliding cardholder B into position. Therefore, when moving the sliding cardholder B into position, the second terminals B3 may be forced against the connecting terminals A2, thereby causing deformation or damage of the terminals. When the card adapter is damaged, the user must deliver the card adapter to the supplier for repair.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a card adapter that eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks.